Dec. 17 was a day to celebrate light as the Labavitch Chanukah Parade made its way through Oak Park, Huntington Woods, Royal Oak and Birmingham

“The idea was to reach as many Jews and non-Jews to spread the light,” said Shalom Ber Dubov. “We had roughly 30 cars in a procession with small little mounted menorahs on top.”

In addition to the cars, Entertainment Express in Dearborn Heights donated the party bus and there were two smaller buses donated by Royal Rentals. The parade started at 10 Mile near Coolidge, went to Greenfield, then to Lincoln. It crossed Woodward and made a left onto Main Street. From there it made a left on 11 Mile, and then a right onto Woodward, eventually ending in Downtown Birmingham. A full State Police escort assisted, along with Oak Park Police.

Several groups and donors make the annual parade, and the giving out of menorahs in public spaces through Chanukah, possible.

“The main principle of Chabad is if you have a very dark room and you have a candle lit, even if it’s a very small candle, you’ll be able to see that candle far and wide,” Dubov said. “So that is a metaphor for our job in the world. There’s a lot of darkness surrounding us. There’s a lot of scary things going on in the world, terrorism or whatever there may be. People can look at the world as a dark place. We don’t often realize through one deed, helping another person and whatever is making the world a better place, you should never think is irrelevant.”

According to Chabad.org, “Chabad-Lubavitch is a philosophy, a movement, and an organization. It is considered to be the most dynamic force in Jewish life today.

Lubavitch appropriately means the “city of brotherly love” The word “Chabad” is a Hebrew acronym for the three intellectual faculties of chochmah—wisdom, binah—comprehension and da’at—knowledge. The movement’s system of Jewish religious philosophy, the deepest dimension of G‑d’s Torah, teaches understanding and recognition of the Creator, the role and purpose of creation, and the importance and unique mission of each creature. This philosophy guides a person to refine and govern his or her every act and feeling through wisdom, comprehension and knowledge.

The word “Lubavitch” is the name of the town in White Russia where the movement was based for more than a century. Appropriately, the word Lubavitch in Russian means the “city of brotherly love.” The name Lubavitch conveys the essence of the responsibility and love engendered by the Chabad philosophy toward every single Jew.”

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